Francis Monkman ‎– Tempus Fugit (1978, LP, England)

Francis Monkman shows great talent for his debut as a Library Music composer, after being a member of Curved Air, Renaissance and Sky. In few words, this LP is a ready-to-use score for action-driven movies with a fairly constant quality and creative songwriting (e.g. the harpsichord appearing on few tracks such as "Mystique" is lovely).
Propelled by nervous funky beats and catchy synthetic riffs, the A-side is a non-stop suite of dynamic songs with a distinct urban/futuristic feeling: "Strident Theme", "Speed", "G-Force" and "Live Action" are truly astounding. It could fit in one those 1980s B-movies, to illustrate some crazy car chases between mutants and android cops in decaying American city. The artwork presents a futuristic spaceship, so a plot line about fierce aliens is doomed to appear… After all, the Bruton "BRI" serie was reserved for futuristic/electronic releases.
Calmer tunes are relegated on the B-side: they're more suitable for suspenseful scenes (the tense "Daredevil" and "Stress"), chill moments ("Getting Ready" is spiced by a nice keyboard melody towards the end) or meditative pauses but they are less impressive despite their arrangements (the ending "Art and Science"): the dreamy "Stargazing" is also pure, delicious fluff. Nonetheless, the peaceful "Starlight" has a surprising heavy break at 2:26.
Overall, Tempus Fugit is a very solid debut with good cheese and great hooks that don't sound too synthetic. FYI the rest of his trilogy for Bruton Music is equally good and is among the best LPs of the BRI collection. (search: RYM)